Game of the Year
Just like every year, the games begin, the same games that cause thousands of deaths to fall upon innocent lives. The legend of one extravagant woman who braved these apocalyptic games is still hummed over all thirteen districts. District thirteen, once destroyed and cast aside, over the years has become a functioning member of society all in itself. There are now homes and a bakery, a place for the Peacekeepers to come and make trades, and even since the legendary woman's passing many years ago, a memorial for her, where a garden is planted and maintained by the community members.
Susanne and Liam had just become of age. Their names were to be entered into the glass bowl. This was called The Reaping. One male and one female would be chosen from all thirteen districts to be trained and put into battle to bring their district honor. The prizes have been drastically risen, however. Instead of just honor and celebrity status, the winner now brings home livestock, fowl, and other means of food and produce. Some say it was the Capitol's way of making everyone excited for the annual Hunger Games, but it only made the people sadder.
Susanne and Liam stood in line, upon their mother's request. As the lady behind a makeshift desk called for the next child, Susanne lethargically held out her left hand.
"Hold out your... oh, right then," the lady said, taking a sample of the girl's blood, taking her finger prints and screening her for the games. Susanne sighs impatiently, rolling her eyes as she is directed to sit with the other children.
Liam, the same age as twelve year old Susanne, steps up and timidly holds out his hand. He wines a bit and looks away. I've got to do it. I've got to do it. Only a poke... just a... Liam feels his hand jabbed hard with a sharp needle, and immediately, tears spring to his eyes.
"Ouch! M-Mom! Mom that hurt so badly!" Liam cries, looking around through his tears for his mother. She's nowhere to be found. "Mother?"
"She's with the other grown-ups, kid. You're screened in, go take your seat," the lady says, motioning toward the other children.
Sniffling from the pain, Liam wades through a massive mob of children, finding his sister and sitting next to her, "We won't be here for long, will we? That hurt..."
"Liam, this is that game we were talking about. The one that kills people," Susanne mumbles lethargically, "We could get picked to fight, and if we are, we won't be going home for a long time." Susanne brushes her blonde hair away from her green eyes, "That's life, you know?"
Liam runs his good hand through his messy, brown hair, looking his sister in her drab, unemotional face, "How can you be so cool about this?"
"Cool? I'm not cool... I'm bored."
"How can you just..."
"Shh, they're going to start that film. Shut up," Susanne whispers, yawning and crossing her arms.
The film plays, displaying propaganda about how good the games are, why they're needed, and what an honor it is to be chosen for your district. A small segment plays in the film - a montage of many images of Katniss Everdeen, the heroine of District Twelve. Susanne sighs, bored of the film's ongoing speeches of pride and order, while Liam can only quiver in fear - fear that he might be chosen.
Just a week ago, Liam was a happy child, skipping over cracks in the dirt paths and admiring the trees out in the long, excruciating distance.
There was a time when The Capitol had no longer been in power, restoring order and freedom to the world, but some strings were pulled, and here they all are again. Liam was happy, though. He knew with the Capitol watching out for the districts, no harm would come to him.
None, unless he were chosen for the games.
Shifting out of his daydream of when he'd laugh and play in the shade on sunny afternoons, he becomes distracted by the woman standing on the stage. Her dress is rather clean and bright, clearly made of an expensive cloth. Her frame is hugged gently by her pencil skirt and matching blazer as she walks to the center of the announcement stage. Her heels click awkwardly, grabbing even Susanne's attention.
The brunette on the stage with her hair up in a neat little bun, looking a lot like a businesswoman in a light blue dress suit, stands still, looking over the crowd with a smile on her face.
"Good day, ladies and gentlemen. As you know, it is time again for the annual Hunger Games. Let's get straight on with it, shall we?" she says, looking to stage left, where a man in a nice suit wheels out a trolley with a glass bowl full of paper slips. "We will draw the names of the girls, and then the boys. So... here we go then!"
The woman dips her hand into the bowl, wiggling her fingers around to grab a slightly-more-random piece of paper. Pulling it out, the woman clears her throat and speaks into the microphone.
"Susanne Yarling!" the woman calls, "Susanne... Yarling. Come on up, Dear."
The crowd of children all look back to Susanne, who rolls her eyes as she stands, dusting off her dress that her mother forced her to wear. She walks lazily to the stage and stands next to the woman.
Liam shivers, watching as his sister carelessly walks to her death, and without an inch of care on her face. Liam begins to bite his nails, hoping and praying that he wouldn't be called next. Unfortunately, the odds are not Liam's favor.
"Liam Yarling. Liam... Yarling? Oh my, it appears we've got siblings! Come up, Darling, don't be frightened. You know everyone here," the lady on stage coaxes as Liam stands to walk up onto the stage.
His heart beats quickly, turning his face red with embarrassment. As he rises higher and higher over the crowd, he can see his mother looking tired and unimpressed, but also worried. Looking straight ahead, the lady holds out her hand to help the boy up the rest of the way. Being placed next to his careless sister, the siblings look out over the crowd; the silent, mourning crowd.
"Well, this is lucky, isn't it? Mrs. Yarling, you seem to have birthed two, respectable little heroes," the woman smiles, trying to cheer the crowd up, failing. "Ah, yes... well then. That concludes the name drawing. Good luck, District Thirteen, and may the odds be ever in your favor."
Susanne and Liam are taken by the lady from the reaping to a small room. This is the room where the twins would have to say goodbye to any friends and family. Liam's vision clouds with tears as he sees Susanne slouching in a floral print arm chair, hanging her head back in laziness. She doesn't even move or look up toward the door when she hears it open.
"Mom!" Liam cries, running to his mother.
"Liam... Susanne... I'm so sorry," his mother says, hugging Liam tightly, "Susanne... come here."
"Ugh... what now?" Susanne scoffs, standing and approaching her mother.
Their mother hugs them tightly, a tear rolling down her cheek, "I won't get to stay long, so... I just wanted to say... I will pray for you. I will pray hard. You do what you can. You don't have to kill anyone - you can stay in hiding until it's all over."
Susanne rolls her eyes, "Can you let go now?"
"Susanne, for God's sake..." her mother scolds softly, "I love you both. Remember that. Be safe."
A guard enters the room and escorts the twin's mother from the room, leaving Liam to cry louder, reaching out for his mom.
"Stop crying, Liam. I knew it'd be us... now stop your crying and man up, will you?" Susanne scolds. "We're not just kids anymore. We're killers now."
"Killers?" Liam quivers.
"Killers. Cold blooded killers, fighting and killing to the top - you got that? So quite crying. You'll make us look bad."
Liam watches as his sister turns and sits back down in her arm chair. He can't believe how Susanne could be so mean and so sassy at a time like this. Didn't she understand? We're going to die... we're gonna die and poor Mom will be alone. Susanne doesn't even care!
"How can you be like this!?" Liam shouts, crying a little harder, "Don't you get how scared I am?! I'm twelve."
"I know how old you are, idiot. We're twins."
"That's not the point! If we have to do this, then fine... but you don't have to be such a jerk!" Liam cries, watching as Susanne's gaze softens from hatred to worry.
"Liam... right now... we have to be strong. We can't let the pain sink in. We need to toughen up," Susanne explains, "We need to come out on top, here."
"How are we supposed to do that? The other districts have champions. We're... kids!"
"We'll have to make our district proud, then."
Cleaned and groomed well, Susanne and Liam walk into a new room - a wide, shiny room with many weapons and their competitions training. They are all much older than the twins are, but from the look on Susanne's face, Liam can tell that Susanne isn't fazed by the competition. In fact, she looks much more determined.
"Alright, there's bows, swords, throwing weapons, all kinds of stations. I'm going for a sword," Susanne says with a large, devious grin.
"I've... never used a weapon before, Susie..." Liam whimpers.
"Better get training, then," Susanne says, handing Liam a dagger.
Liam looks down at the small dagger in his hands. The hilt is blood-stained and the blade is slightly rusted, but clean for the most part. Someone killed - or was killed - with this weapon. Am... I going to use it like that?
Susanne already proves efficient with the sword. As she swings the blade left to right, she soon stabs a fabric dummy through the stomach. Liam watches cautiously, noticing how Susanne handles her blade. Her movements are swift and quick; her talents far surpass her young age, so much so that the older children all watch in awe. A few faces in the small crows turn pale and express uneasiness. Inspired to train harder, the uneasy children return to training, definitely picking up their paces.
Liam looks again at the dagger in his hands. I suppose... I have no choice, do I? That girl from District Twelve... if she could do it... I don't even think she's killed anyone. I should at least learn to defend myself.
Liam spends a grand majority of his time with a moving dummy - its arms swing and attempt to hit the person sparring with it. As it pivots and moves, Liam attempts to swing his arm out toward the dummy, using the dagger to stab different parts of it. Susanne watches on as Liam's poor skills make him look like more of a target than a fearsome warrior.
"No... no, just... calm down." Susanne says, approaching and positioning her brother's feet shoulder width apart, "Relax and concentrate. Don't worry so much and try not to be scared. It's easier than it looks."
Liam nods and looks at the moving dummy. As the dummy's arms swing out to slap Liam, he ducks, jabbing his dagger into the dummy's leg.
Susanne smiles, placing her hands on her hips, "Good. Keep that up, okay? Don't let these other kids make you feel small. They're just as weak as we are."
Did she just admit to being weak? And... why's she being nice? I knew the careless-teen attitude was all an act... she doesn't want to look scared. Okay. I'll do it for her - I know Susanne is scared inside, so... I'll do what I can. It's the least I can do.
_ _ Timid Liam spends the remainder of his time practicing with a multitude of weapons: bow and arrow, sword, dagger, and throwing weapons. His favorite so far was the dagger, being his first to be held. He works himself to tire, panting and sore.
Susanne places a hand on his shoulder, "Hey, lucky you for being a fast learner," she says, "but we gotta go. We're being taken to our room now."
Liam sighs, putting the dagger away, "Our room?"
Susanne and Liam are taken to a rather large suite-like room. There is a small kitchen, a luxurious looking sitting area, two bathrooms, and two bedrooms. Liam's eyes shoot wide as he takes in the entire room.
"All of this is for us?" Liam gasps.
"Don't be too excited, okay?" Susanne says, her eyes rolling, "This is the grooming stage. Remember the film? They see the Hunger Games as some kind of honor, like going to war for the whole world or something. They'll do whatever they can to make us feel proud of it."
"I guess... still... I'm starving," Liam says, approaching the kitchen and opening the fridge. Food layers the shelves - from fruit to meats to cheeses to vegetables. Liam's eyes grow bigger than his stomach as he grabs a large block of cheese and some baby carrots from the fridge, plopping them on the counter.
Susanne rolls her eyes at her hungry brother and turns to walk to her room. Her room is large and comfortable looking, but it's not enough to convince her of her "honorable duty" as a games participant. Laying in her bed, Susanne ignores her growling stomach as her eyes shut, allowing her to drift to sleep.
After a few more days of training, Liam and Susanne have both become equally talented at most of the weapons available. When it came time to prove to the game masters of their talents, both Susanne and Liam proved to be more than adequate. It would appear that they had nothing to worry about.
As timid as Liam remains, he has also grown more determined. He turns to his sister as they face their platforms to be taken up to the playing field.
"Good luck, Susie... don't get hurt, okay?" Liam quivers, "I'm scared... I want to go home."
"Liam?" Susanne says, looking to her brother, smiling, "Shut up. We trained hard. It's going to be fine. If something happens to me... rip off some heads, okay?"
"Don't joke like that... I..."
"Liam?" Susanne says, looking to her elevator.
"Yeah..."
"Shut up, okay?" Susanne steps onto her platform, being lifted until she's out of Liam's sight.
She's worried about me, too. I know she is. God... if you're up there... just please watch out for her, okay? I can take care of myself, I guess... I'm scared... but... please, look out for Susie. Also... take care of Mom.
Liam steps up onto his platform, being risen above ground. He overlooks the playing field and sees all the other participants standing on similar platforms. The air is stale and the atmosphere is silent; the twins knew that all they had to fear was each other - as the years from previous games has passed, the Capitol had taken it upon themselves to remove all simulated disasters, leaving the participants to the most dangerous monsters in the field, themselves.
The games begin. As each participant runs to the cornucopia to grab their weapons of choice. Liam manages to grab a dagger, while Susanne grabs a hatchet. Running off into the trees, Susanne and Liam take cover, hoping to outrun the others to get to safety.
Crossing a small stream, Susanne looks around for a place to take cover. "Okay, we'll need to be high up, or very, very low. I say we start digging."
"Digging? We don't have the tools for..." Liam looks at his dagger, "Well, I can try with what I've got.
"I'll find things to cover our hole with. Be careful, okay? Don't make any noise. If you see someone... climb or hide." Susanne demands, "Don't get hurt."
Liam nods, immediately getting to his knees and stabbing his dagger into the ground. He rustles and stirs the dirt enough to loosen it, digging his hands into the ground and lifting piles of dirt. He digs for so long, his hands begin to feel raw and throb with pain. The hole I only knee high by the time Susanne returns.
"Only that deep?" Susanne scoffs, "Move, I'll take over digging," she says, dropping a large pile of leaves and sticks.
"So we have to make like a hole trap?" Liam asks, panting, dipping his hands into the cool stream.
"Kind of, only we're going to be living inside it. Hopefully nobody will find us - we're pretty far from the center. Have you heard anyone out here?"
"No... it's so quiet, it's scary."
"Okay, well, we just..." Susanne is interrupted by the sound of an arrow stabbing the nearby tree, "Shit!"
Liam had never heard Susanne use that kind of language before - he knew it was serious. Already, the cannons sound: Six explosions - six names appear in the sky in holographic projection.
Susanne rips the arrow out of the tree and raises her hatchet over her head, ready to chop. "Who's there?! Come on out and show your..."
An arrow slips through Susanne's stomach, forcing her to bleed harshly.
"Susanne, who are... oh my God." Liam's heart sinks as he sees his sister fall to her knees, holding her stomach beneath the arrow's penetration point.
"Liam... don't be scared..." Susanne pants.
"No, oh my God... no!" Liam cries. Again, immediately, ten more cannons sound in the sky. Liam can only imagine that the games have turned into a strange riot. He looks to his sister, bleeding out on the ground. He leans down and picks her up, dragging her to the stream. "Okay... o-okay... um... let's uh..."
"Liam, forget it... take my things and run. Go hide and stay out of... agh... stay out of... trouble," Susanne's blood flows quickly from her body, forcing her flesh to grow pale. "Just go, okay? Win this one for Mom."
Susanne's eyes grow dim, the life draining from her body as Liam holds her until her last breath. His young, twin sister passes away in his arms. Stunned by shock, anger, and fear, Liam's tears are silent. His mind grows hazy as he does as Susanne had asked him; he leaves Susanne near the hold they were digging, picks up her hatchet and carries his dagger with him, quickly running away from the scene.
He can hear arrows whizzing past him - someone is hunting him. Two more cannons explode and two more names appear - Susanne's is one of those names. He sees the image of her face; her face is lethargic and careless, but alive. Liam stops in his tracks, looking up at the image of his sister. He turns around, and as anger fills his body, he looks into the eyes of the boy hunting him down. His arrow is drawn and aiming at him.
"You," Liam hisses, "You killed her!"
"That's the point, squirt - your turn," the boy says. The boy is much taller than Liam, and appears to be covered in blood. "I've been killing the minute I got this bow - I'm not about to let one measly worm get away."
"You killed her!" Liam screams with bloodlust, tossing the hatchet as hard as he can, knocking the bow out of the boy's hands, releasing the arrow into the ground. Liam rushes to the boy and mounts him, holding his dagger to his throat, "You killed my sister!"
"Go ahead - kill me. It's what they want after all," the boy says, grunting from Liam's weight on his chest.
"I will... and when I do... I'll..."
The boy gasps for air as another child appears, looking to be the same age as the boy beneath Liam. She stabs downward with a sword toward Liam, but he moves and the boy beneath him is stabbed instead. As an impulse, the boy grabs Liam's dagger and stabs up at the girl. Liam watches as the kids killed each other before him, leaving him confused and scared. He grabs his dagger and hatchet, running off quickly before he faces anymore encounters.
I almost killed him... I almost killed someone...
Two more cannons go off - the boy and the girl appear in the sky, displaying their district - they were of the same district - District Nine. Liam scowls at the idea that they would try and kill each other, being from the same home.
Liam travels far, using the hatchet to delve deeper into dense wooded areas, climbing trees and staying out of sight. Finally, four more cannons sound - leaving only Liam and another on the map. One of them would have to die. Do it for Mom... do it for Susanne.
Liam did his best to remain silent and still in the trees. A small box floats down from above him, landing right onto his lap. He has been sponsored.
A note inside the small metal tin says, "Come home safely - Love, Mom." Inside with the note is a sandwich, some bandages, and other little things that most moms would deem useful. None of these things can help him here, but the thought is enough to keep him feeling strong.
Liam, biting into his sandwich, feels a sharp pain in his head. He reaches up and feels an arrow, stabbed through his head. His heart beads rapidly as he feels his body grow limp, leaning to his left and falling out of the tree, speeding toward the hard, unforgiving ground below.
The alarm clock sounds, jolting Liam awake. He sits up in his bed, feeling his head as his heart races for dear life. His cold sweat is enough to wake him almost instantly.
"Yo, come on! You'll be late for school," Susanne calls from behind Liam's bedroom door.
Liam looks around him, safe at home and in his bed. He looks to his computer screen, seeing where he had left his movie, Catching Fire paused before he went to sleep.
"That's... oh, God..." Liam mumbles to himself. That felt so real... man, wait 'til Susanne hears about this. I gotta stop watching such violent things before bed. Okay... gotta shower, brush my teeth, get breakfast...
Liam hops out of bed, preparing for his day, moving to his PC and closing his media player. "Maybe I'll finish this series... _then_I'll go back to anime."